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Donna Barr Faircloth, 60, who had faced three misdemeanor animal cruelty charges, took the plea deal Jan. 4. In addition to the fine, she must pay $373 in court costs. Faircloth did not return calls seeking comment.

Animal Services raided her rural Venice home in May and removed 263 dogs from her property. Many were sick and covered with sores and mange. It took rescuers two days to remove all of the dogs from cages and chicken coops, where they were kept under horrific conditions. More than a dozen local shelters helped with the rescue efforts.

Animal rights activists and officials at local shelters, who were swamped by the sheer number of dogs, are disappointed by the sentence and say they are worried Faircloth may re-offend.

Wendy Scott, an activist who was involved in the rescue, says Faircloth was a breeder, not a hoarder.

“She was making money off of those animals,” Scott said. “This sentence will encourage other people to start or encourage them to keep breeding. This is a horrible sentence — a slap on the wrist. How many times are we going to have to do this for the Faircloths or people like the Faircloths?”

Lt. Scott Ortner, Director of the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office Animal Services, said his office still has a civil order in place against Faircloth, which prevents her from having more than four dogs. The order was obtained in May, shortly after Faircloth was charged. However, Ortner said he lacks the staff to monitor her compliance on a regular basis.

“Even though the criminal aspect is beyond our control, we have her where we want her,” Ortner said. “We won’t have to go out and deal with her again.”

Bernard Faircloth said in May his wife began hoarding because she suffers from clinical depression.

Ortner disagrees, and said Faircloth was a former breeder whose business suffered during the economic downturn.

“She couldn’t make ends meet when the economy tanked, so it turned into a hoarding situation,” Ortner said.

Jail or court-ordered restitution are rare in animal cruelty cases, Ortner said, especially when the suspect, like Faircloth, has no prior criminal charges.

Ortner said despite the monumental scope of the rescue effort every dog found a home.

Assistant State Attorney Anne Dryden, who prosecuted Faircloth, would not say why restitution or a psychiatric examination were left out of the plea bargain.

“Based upon her lack of criminal history and the civil order that precluded her from having additional animals, we felt we resolved the case in an appropriate manner,” Dryden said.

He has seen hoarders before, including one in upstate New York where 1,200 animals were rescued.

“These are folks that need help. Most hoarders are compassionate but get in over their heads,” he said. “If there is no counseling or monitoring then I think this is a terrible ending. It’s almost guaranteed to happen again. It’s disappointing.”

Suncoast Humane Society has its own veterinarian, Snyder said, who was kept busy caring for the rescued dogs, but more time was spent socializing the animals.

“They led their lives in cages. They were scared of life,” he said. “That took a lot of time to change.”

<p><em>VENICE</em> - Sarasota County's worst animal hoarder was allowed to plead no contest to a single misdemeanor charge and was fined $100 as part of a plea bargain this month.</p><p>Donna Barr Faircloth, 60, who had faced three misdemeanor animal cruelty charges, took the plea deal Jan. 4. In addition to the fine, she must pay $373 in court costs. Faircloth did not return calls seeking comment.</p><p>Animal Services raided her rural Venice home in May and removed 263 dogs from her property. Many were sick and covered with sores and mange. It took rescuers two days to remove all of the dogs from cages and chicken coops, where they were kept under horrific conditions. More than a dozen local shelters helped with the rescue efforts. </p><p>Animal rights activists and officials at local shelters, who were swamped by the sheer number of dogs, are disappointed by the sentence and say they are worried Faircloth may re-offend.</p><p>Wendy Scott, an activist who was involved in the rescue, says Faircloth was a breeder, not a hoarder.</p><p>“She was making money off of those animals,” Scott said. “This sentence will encourage other people to start or encourage them to keep breeding. This is a horrible sentence — a slap on the wrist. How many times are we going to have to do this for the Faircloths or people like the Faircloths?”</p><p>Lt. Scott Ortner, Director of the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office Animal Services, said his office still has a civil order in place against Faircloth, which prevents her from having more than four dogs. The order was obtained in May, shortly after Faircloth was charged. However, Ortner said he lacks the staff to monitor her compliance on a regular basis. </p><p>“Even though the criminal aspect is beyond our control, we have her where we want her,” Ortner said. “We won't have to go out and deal with her again.” </p><p>Bernard Faircloth said in May his wife began hoarding because she suffers from clinical depression.</p><p>Ortner disagrees, and said Faircloth was a former breeder whose business suffered during the economic downturn.</p><p>“She couldn't make ends meet when the economy tanked, so it turned into a hoarding situation,” Ortner said. </p><p>Jail or court-ordered restitution are rare in animal cruelty cases, Ortner said, especially when the suspect, like Faircloth, has no prior criminal charges.</p><p>Ortner said despite the monumental scope of the rescue effort every dog found a home. </p><p>Assistant State Attorney Anne Dryden, who prosecuted Faircloth, would not say why restitution or a psychiatric examination were left out of the plea bargain. </p><p>“Based upon her lack of criminal history and the civil order that precluded her from having additional animals, we felt we resolved the case in an appropriate manner,” Dryden said. </p><p>Suncoast Humane Society executive director Phillip Snyder estimates his shelter spent thousands of dollars caring for the dogs they received.</p><p>He has seen hoarders before, including one in upstate New York where 1,200 animals were rescued.</p><p>“These are folks that need help. Most hoarders are compassionate but get in over their heads,” he said. “If there is no counseling or monitoring then I think this is a terrible ending. It's almost guaranteed to happen again. It's disappointing.” </p><p>Suncoast Humane Society has its own veterinarian, Snyder said, who was kept busy caring for the rescued dogs, but more time was spent socializing the animals. </p><p>“They led their lives in cages. They were scared of life,” he said. “That took a lot of time to change.”</p>